Happy Foodies

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironwulf/4271055199/"><img alt="Ayam Penyet" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4271055199_566e337772_o.jpg"></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ayam Penyet (SG$6)</figcaption></figure> Resto Surabaya Lucky Plaza is said to be dominated by the Filipino crowd, but in a hidden corner of this mall one can find a really good Indonesian restaurant called Resto Surabaya. It has simple interiors with earth colors and a comfortable dining area. The Ayam Penyet (Surabya style Fried Chicken) was tasty at every level from skin to meat, especially with a dip in the chili spice.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironwulf/4131237538/"><img alt="Maggie's Buttered Squid (SG$6, 8, 12)" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2774/4131237538_168735904d_o.jpg"></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Maggie's Buttered Squid (SG$8, 12, 16)</figcaption></figure> Hopping from a hole-in-the wall restaurant to al fresco street dining, then to a humble stall in a kopitiam and later, to an unpretentious mall restaurant, food tripping is one activity I cherish when I'm in Singapore. The food offering is so diverse I can eat different cuisines from different parts of the world depending on what my appetite dictates that day. During my week-long stay, I tried the different restaurants my friend recommended which were all good at the particular type of cuisine they serve yet inexpensive.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oggie/4028353869/"><img alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/4028353869_eb8b47359a_b.jpg"></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">No Problem Sutukil Restaurant Fresh Catch</figcaption></figure> One of the indelible impressions that going around Cebu City left me is that Cebuanos simply love to eat. I've visited this so-called Queen City of the South every year for the last four or so years and seeing new eating places coming up just amazes me. The last time around was for another work assignment when we went around and saw signages on lampposts advertising either lechon (roast pig) and pochero, a kind of beef soup.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oggie/4527707215/"><img alt="8065 Bagnet Ginataang Bagnet" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4527707215_289ba63593_b.jpg"></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">8065 Bagnet Ginataang Bagnet</figcaption></figure> The menu listed a grand total of 20 food items, six of which are bagnet main dishes and another six as bagnet budget meals. It takes a lot of gumption to offer just about only one thing in your restaurant and build the menu around it. Braver still to name your restaurant after it. But 8065 Bagnet does not disappoint.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><img alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2717/4055780002_18b5ee2617_b.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">La Cocina Lamb Shank</figcaption></figure> We’re already 10 years into the new millennium but stepping into the foyer of La Cocina de Tita Moning, I can’t help but feel like I’ve left the 21st century at the doorstep and slipped back to another era. The gleam of the afternoon sun and chandelier reflects off the polished hardwood floor. Old paintings and photos hang all over the walls. The air conditioning was on but I seem to smell (or imagine smelling) a faint musty odor in the air, reminiscent of the redolence of old houses. I pass by the souvenir/pasalubong shop immediately past the sliding doors and save for the air conditioners and big refrigerators, I can easily mistake the decade for the 1930s, not the 2000s.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oggie/4315556320/"><img alt="" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4004/4315556320_ecaf60c228_b.jpg"></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Bale Dutung Brulee</figcaption></figure> When traveling to the north, making a stopover in Pampanga is always a sensible decision. And why not? Kapampangans are really known for their rich food tradition. But eating takes on a deeper, and should I say cultural, meaning when you make a stop at Bale Dutung. Tucked in a residential village, the place looks more like a house than a restaurant which it actually is, being the abode of chef/cook/artist Claude Tayag and his wife, Maryanne. That said, the treatment we got was more akin to dining in a friend’s house.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><img alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/4276602196_3d56b35ea8_b.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Big Binondo Food Wok Map</figcaption></figure> Say Chinatown and one of the first things that comes to mind is the chow. It’s almost a sacrilege not to sample the food when one ventures to Binondo. Little wonder that Manila’s foremost streetwalker, Ivan Man Dy, came up with the Binondo Food Wok Map. He was getting too many texts and calls from people asking about the whereabouts of eating places in Manila Chinatown that he felt compelled to come up with something to help people find their way to the divine food offerings that await in the busy streets.